1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fluid loading arms, and more particularly to articulated marine loading arms for transferring fluid between an offshore facility and a tanker or other marine vessel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The production of oil and gas from offshore wells has developed into a major endeavor of the petroleum industry and this growth has fostered extensive interest and investigation into means for transporting the produced fluids to shore-based refineries or storage facilities. Although in many instances pipelines are employed for this purpose, more and more wells are being drilled and completed in deepwater locations where the use of marine tankers of very large capacity constitutes the most practical and efficient transportation method, such as where pipelines would be too costly or difficult to construct.
Some of the prior art loading facilities include a fluid handling means such as a mooring buoy or floating platform to which a tanker may be moored while loading. Connected to the buoy or floating platform are a number of flexible hoses for transferring fluid to or from the tanker, and a tender is normally required to assist the tanker in picking up these hoses for connection to the tanker's manifold. Such an arrangement not only requires the use of a tender, but movement of the tanker may cause the flexible hoses to break.
Other prior art facilities include a tower or other vertical support structure mounted on a floating platform or extending up from the ocean floor, with a pipe-supporting boom pivotally connected to the top of the tower and extending generally horizontally therefrom. Pipes are provided for conducting fluid to the outer end of the support boom, and an articulated pipe assembly extends from the boom to the marine tanker. Cables raise and lower an outer end of the articulated pipe so that the pipe may be secured to or moved away from a tanker manifold. One such facility is described in Lochte et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,616, issued Oct. 24, 1978.